A Brockton Bay Abyssal
by DreamingNotDead
Summary: A girl comes close to death and is given power and a chance for revenge. Most everything belongs to WhiteWolf or Wildbow. Things may be changed from both to fit the needs of the story, but I'll try to keep it minor.
1. Chapter 1

The stink of it filled my nose, my mouth, god I could taste it. Face pressed up against the cold steel of the locker, and rotting bloody waste under me, it was all I could do to not vomit. A cramped metal coffin filled with filth.

I heard them, behind me, outside, laughing as they walked away, _Madison, Sophia, and Emma. Madison, Sophia, Emma. Madison, Sophia, Emma. MadisonSophiaEmma._ An endless chant pulsing through my brain… pain following it close behind. I must have hit my head hard when they pushed me in here.

Shifting, trying to get my hands up in front of me, maybe I can push my way out. _The locks on these things can't be that strong_ , I think to myself as I start pushing.  
My head leaves the cool surface of the locker, then, warmth? _Why warmth, and wet… blood?_ I feel it against my forehead, sharp, a screw. Blood runs down my face, managing to reach my hand up, I feel it... Torn skin, the screw is long, my forehead against the cool metal wall...

"Help! Someone, please! Let me out!" I cry, as best I can, gagging, forcing my words around the miasma surrounding me.  
What little light there was in here with me was growing dim. My vision starting to tunnel.

 _I feel sick, I feel dizzy. I feel…_

…cold stone under my feet. Cold stone under my feet and a breeze caressing my skin, a breeze carrying the smell of copper.

I open my eyes. I wish I hadn't.

In front of me is a vast lake of crimson, the source of that coppery smell, thick and churning, topped with pink foam capped waves, but as fresh and clear as if it had just been spilled.  
I look around, taking in the high black rock walls and the pale blue sky beyond, grey –green clouds floating past a dull and shining sun. The shore is rimmed with obsidian coloured sand turning into mud where the waves hit and it is there where I walk when the voice says, "COME".

I walk to the shore, the waves of blood coating my feet and drop to my knees and I don't know why I do this.

Then I see it.

It's wings, and I say It because it can only be an It not a He or a She, It's wings appear first from the blood, one shattered and pulled close to Its body , the other standing tall pointing into the eldritch sky. Its long white hair streaked with blood, black bandages covering its eyes and robe white and stained red open to the waist.

"COME TO ME CHILD" It says, though its words aren't English I can understand them in my mind, "COME AND KNEEL BEFORE ME". Moving on my hands and knees, sitting on my heels before It, It's voice echoing in my head.  
"YOUR END IS BEFORE YOU, AND HAVE BUT ONE BREATH LEFT BEFORE YOU PASS. IS THIS WHAT YOU WISH CHILD?"

"No… I don't want to die in there…"

"THEN TAKE YOUR FINAL BREATH AND LIVE FOR EVER. SELL YOUR NAME TO THE NEVERBORN, GIVE UP YOUR MORTAL DESTINY AND SERVE US. ONLY THEN WILL YOU HAVE YOUR JUSTICE AGAINST THOSE WHO HAVE WRONGED YOU, TAYLOR HEBERT."

"How do you know me?" my voice cracks, empty and weak.

"I HAVE WATCHED FOR ONES LIKE YOU, ONES WHO ARE WRONGED AND WISH TO RIGHT THOSE WRONGS. IS THIS YOU?"

"Yes, I want to help people, I want to bring justice to people like that!", I look down and see images of Madison, Sophia and Emma in the now still lake of blood, and I watch every single thing they've done to me play back over and over. I watch them try to kill me. I watch no one care. I watch my life not matter one bit. And I wonder why should theirs?

"THEN TAKE UP OUR CAUSE AND BREATH! SWEAR YOURSELF TO ME AND MINE LORDS! AND BRING OBLIVION TO ALL WHO DESERVE IT."

"Yes."

It places one hand on my head and it feels like I'm going to split in two. A horrible, disturbing, meaningless glossolalia fills the air and I feel wells of power open in me.

 _What have I done?_

My forehead burns and things I should not know fill my mind. Blood runs down my face and I feel my body strengthen and everything feels light and beneath me.

"ARISE MY SERVENT, MY DAUGHTER OF BITTER PAIN. GO FORTH AND SHARE OUR GREAT WORKS WITH THE WORLD!"

I open my eyes and I'm back in the locker. Shoving as hard as I can the locker door bursts open behind me and I turn, catching myself on my hands and knees. The school is dark and empty, everyone gone for the day. I stand up and walk to the washroom; one must look presentable on their first day out in the world.

"Well then, I've certainly filled out", I say to no one in particular. My previously boyish figure; now curvier, hips and boobs, slight as they might be. My skin chalk white, my hair darker and curls are fuller, and my lips maybe a bit more full? I've got a little goth thing going on now, don't I. "And what is this on my forehead?" Prodding it with a finger, what looks like a blackened brand sits on my brow, a disk of purist black. Sluggish and thick blood dripping from its edges.

I wash up, cleaning the mess from myself where I can. _Better, much better,_ I think to myself. _Time to go for a walk._ I leave the washroom, leave the school, walking out into the crisp evening air.


	2. Chapter 2

I walked down the street, heading home. It was nice, refreshing, the air almost smelled sweet and the cold moon shone down on me. Then it started, the nagging, biting feeling of the world around me. I almost couldn't breathe from the world pushing down on me. And then I flexed the power wrapped around my soul, and felt better. A release of power flowed through me, guarding me from the world around me. I still felt uncomfortable, but I could deal with it for now. Half way home now… hmm, maybe a short cut?

There was a small graveyard, on the way home. It always creeped me out before, but now it was peaceful and inviting. Pushing open the gates I walked inside, through here, two streets over and I was home.

The trees were bare and dead leaves and frost crusted the ground. It crunched pleasantly under my sneakers, and I almost skipped. Then, voices, off in the distance.

"Hahah! Yeah kick it over man!"

 _The hell is that? Oh, I see…_

Two guys, my age I'd suppose. Kicking over headstones, trashing fences. And something in the back of my head, like a memory I never had, said this is wrong. Not because it's vandalism, but because the dead should be treated with more respect than this.

"Hey, you might want to stop that and leave now… I really don't care for how you're acting," I said, walking out from behind a tree.

"Bitch, you really want fuck off home now. Before you get hurt, "the skinny blonde one says.

"Yeah girly," the built and bald one said, throwing a bottle against the wall of a mausoleum, "unless you wanna stay and have some fun."

"Oh, eww, no… That's disgusting…" I pinch the bridge of my nose. Looking down, I see a two foot wrought iron fence post.

"Oh what you think you're better than us, you skinny skank?" Blondie pulls a switchblade from his pocket. "How but this, you come over here, we have some fun and I don't make you bleed."

Now, before, I would have run away, cried, hid, or averted my eyes at least. But now, no, none of that. I was… A cape? Huh, maybe I'm a cape now. Or not, I don't think what happened to me happens to parahumans when they get their powers. Either way, I felt more confident than I ever had.

"No, no I don't think so. But, maybe you run away now, hard and fast or I come over there, I have some fun, and you bleed for sure."

Idiot with the knife moves at me first, and the not-mine-memories in my head tell me what to do. So, hooking the fence post under my toe, I flip it into my hand and let it swing. I don't know why I know this, but it feels so natural and I know exactly what happens next. I turn as I swing, slipping around the knife and him, the bar catching him in the back of the leg. He drops to his knees and I bring it down on his shoulder, the bones breaking, the man screaming, before I toss the iron bar aside.

"Now, that really could have been avoided, if you just listened to me. But no, you wanted to be stupid. And now you're broken." I turn to the other fool, sneaking up behind me, and crack him across the jaw with the back of my fist, "and that was rather stupid too. Because now your jaw is broken", and he falls to the ground holding his face and groaning in agony, barely conscious.

I head off again towards home, leaving their moans of pain behind me, but I stop by a payphone on the side of the street and quickly call the police to let them know there are injured people in the graveyard. No littering in the graveyard, of course. I hang up the phone, to their protests, asking who I am and if I did this.

 _ **Comecomecomecomecomecome… back… You must come now…**_

I look around but there's nothing there. But I can certainly feel… something. I can see my house from here. I pick up my pace, almost home and then I can see dad. I smile at this. I can see a light on.

 _ **Please you must follow… we will lead you to the master… follow us to your place of power…**_

I walk, the warm light of home embracing me. I reach the front door, and feel a hand on my shoulder. I look. A hand with well-manicured nails rests on my shoulder, a well-tailored suit covering his form. He looks to be in his mid-thirties and he's a ghost.

 _ **Please… Daughter of Bitter Pain, the master requires you to follow… to attend him… You must be readied…**_

 _Why must people keep talking into my head?_

"First off, you don't know me so don't touch me," I say, brushing his hand from my shoulder. "Second, who and what are you, and where do you want us to go?"

 _ **Apologies madam… Jonathan**_ _ **Tengerstron, at your service madam… I mean that literally, I am your guide and effectively your servant until we reach the master…**_

Place my hand on the doorknob, "and how long will I have to be gone for? Will I be able to come back? Will I see my dad again?"

 _ **I do not know how long you will be gone... Some time I assume... But you will return... The Master has plans for you and this city... So I doubt long enough for it to matter… But I know when you return… Your plans will come to fruition as well…**_

I hesitate…

 _I know I want this, I know I want to go and become strong and I will. Be. So. Very. Strong… But dad, how can I leave him? He won't let me go. But how can he stop me? Why should I be stopped?_

I push the imperious thoughts from my head. I have to go, but I'll leave him a note, let him know I'll be back.

"Give me a few minutes. I need to get some things."

I slip inside and notice the wall clock, 4 am. Dad's sitting asleep in a chair, phone on his lap. _He was waiting for me, he must have been so worried…_ Silently I go upstairs, pack a bag with spare clothes a flashlight and a note book. I come back down, head to the kitchen, filling a bottle with water and putting a couple apples and granola bars in the bag too.

There's a notepad on the table, we use for phone messages. I quickly write a letter to him, explaining what I can, telling him I'll be back. Tears fall from my eyes as I fold the paper and place it prominently on the kitchen table.

Carefully closing the back door, Tengerstron meets me.

 _ **Are you ready?**_

"Yes, how does this work? Where are we going?"

 _ **The Underworld… The realm of the dead…**_

He places a hand on the back door window, and speaks four short words in a language I've never heard. All around us we hear glass crack and animals start to screech and howl. A quicksilver portal opens in the air in front of us, blackening the surrounding grass.

 _ **After you,**_ he says and we step through. 

* * *

It just didn't make any sense. Over two months. It had been over two months since he had woken up in the living room, phone on his lap. Woken up wondering where his daughter was and finding a note on the kitchen table. A short letter, telling him she'll be alright and will be back as soon as she can. There are spots of dried wetness on the paper. She was crying. The school told him about the mess in her locker, said they would help with an investigation in any way they could. Nothing explained the cracked glass in the neighborhood, maybe a cape did it they said, but it hadn't happened again.

The other day, something was pushed through the mail slot. More than two thousand dollars in an envelope fell on his floor, in various denominations. No letter, nothing signed. It wasn't even mailed, there was no stamp. Someone just walked up to his house and dropped it off. Why? Was it Taylor?

He sat down, looking at the phone. Should I call the cops about this? It might help them find her, if it was her. Who else could it be though?

He poured himself a drink. He had been doing that a lot more lately. Sitting at the table, he looked at the envelope. He poured himself another drink. He picked up the phone and started to dial.

There was a knock at the door.


	3. Chapter 3

The night air was cool. I hardly felt it, sitting on top of the warehouse roof. It had been two days since I had come back. Since I had been knighted. Since I had been punished and beaten and shaped and molded. Ten weeks being trained and conditioned and now I'm out. Not free, never free but out in the world at least. And it felt so alive. And I hate it.

The noise and the people and the smells and light and I hate every single piece of it. And I hate that I hate it. This is my city, my home, but not my world. Not anymore.

I stand, and slip my coat back on. I need to do something. I have my orders. Clean up the city. Make it safe. Be a hero.

 _Let's start now I guess… Docks always were less than safe… So let's be unsafe._

I walk to the edge of the roof, looking every bit a villain. My wardrobe was a brand new gift from my… boss. Heavy black pants tucked into knee-high, low-heeled steel-toed boots. A dark red tank top covered by a heavy black coat with silver skull buttons. Leather gloves studded with iron skulls on each hand. Rosary made of finger bones and obsidian around my neck. A silk wrap covering my face chin to nose, and to top it all off, a pair of soulsteel and starmetal bracers around my wrists.

I was more confident then I had ever been. Powerful now, not the person I was. I don't even really look the same. A bit taller, stomach flatter, curves and lean muscle. Thin but no longer a stick figure. The package was certainly… life changing.

I stepped off the roof and let myself fall, landing crouched on the ground. I stood and stated walking. The alleys and streets of the docks it was oddly quiet. The warehouses loomed over me; most of the lights around were broken. Thick clouds flowed across the sky, the wind blowing strong and steady. But I could hear it, off in the distance. Someone screaming for help. A woman.

 _So, let's start slow and easy._

I broke out into a run.

Around the corner and past the warehouse with the missing wall. Over a fence, around another corner and there they were. A woman on the ground, crab walking away from a rather large and shabbily dressed man. He had a knife in one hand and was holding the waistband of his pants with the other. She was dressed fairly trashy; heels and a short skirt, way too much makeup.

"…you don't give me the money, I'm gonna cut your pretty face. Or you can blow me right here and now and we can call it a down payment."

"No, don't! Nonono!" She screamed, crawling back faster, slipping on a mess leaking from a dumpster.

"Okay, now, that's really just awful… Maybe you should just put the knife down," I said, stepping from around the corner, "Now!"

"You gonna make me bitch?" He said, pointing the knife at me.

"In a city full of capes, are you seriously doing this? Do you have powers? Or are you just dumb, or high? Is it drugs? Think hard now, do you want to try to fight me, or do you want to just sit on the ground and wait until the police arrive?"

I was slowly moving forward and circling around him, only a couple feet separated us now. He kept trying to look at both me and the girl on the ground. Yeah, definitely dumb. He took a swipe at me with his knife, a shitty switchblade of some sort. I let it hit me, and took in his expression as his knife broke against me. It wasn't an expression that lasted long before my fist connected with the side of his head. He hit the ground hard.

The girl was still on the ground, whatever grease or other fluids were leaking from the bottom of the dumpster soaking into her clothes. She looked terrified.

"Hey? Are you okay?' I crouched down by her, giving her a once over. She didn't really seem hurt, a few scratches. Mostly just scared.

"Look, do you have a phone? I'm going to call someone to come and get this guy," I reached for her purse, laying on the ground and dug inside. A small old flip phone was inside.

I quickly called 911 and explained the situation; they said they'd send a car to the address I had given. Dragging over couple of crates that were clean of any mess over from the other side of the alley I sat down. I pushed the other to the girl sitting on the ground.

"I thought you might like to sit on something besides the dirty ground," I smiled at her, pushing the crate closer with the toe of my boot.

"Th-thanks…" she stuttered back, looking at the man on the ground.

"Welcome, so why were you out here in the first place?"

She looked down at the ground, and seeing her now, she wasn't much older than me. "I was supposed to be going to a warehouse party around here. He stopped me."

"Well, I guess you won't be doing that again," I said, shaking my head slightly. "It's a good idea to stay out of the docks at night I think…"

We sat in silence for the rest of our wait. It wasn't long before a police car and an ambulance showed up, lights flashing. A woman in military gear with an American flag for a sash and mask pulled up next to them on a motorcycle. Miss Militia, the one and only, her weapon currently in the form of two pistols in a shoulder holster.

I stood and walked away. The fewer questions the better and I didn't want to answer a lot of questions, any questions really.

"Hey! You! Come back here, we need to talk to you," Miss Militia shouted at me.

I waved back as I walked, "no that's okay, and I'm good. Help her."

* * *

Leaping up to a roof I hauled myself up and took off running, leaping from roof to roof. Oh my, the package has a lot of perks. I heard Militia shouting for me to come back, but that wasn't important. I had things to do; I really wanted to test myself against something bigger than a fool with a knife. I was a Knight, better that any idiot on the street. Potentially. I just had to prove it. Make myself known and feared. And for that I had to do something big. I started running towards the areas where the Merchants usually were.

The Merchants, dealing in drugs and waste. Filth that has no place in this city. I wasn't sure how many capes they had. But it didn't matter. Not really. Not when I got there. I could handle it. Sure I could.

It really wasn't hard to find what I wanted. You just had to listen for stupid people, loud people and really fucked up people. That led to a warehouse. In the warehouse, so many people. Sorting drugs, counting money, doing drugs, buying drugs, having sex while on drugs. This was the sight from every window I could find.

 _Wow, this is just wasteful. The hell…_

In the main part of the building, the floor where things were being sorted and bagged, I could see him. A cape obviously. Wearing a mask, walking around shouting orders and obscenities. He looked like hell, even from here. Thin with a gut, dirty costume and his teeth looked terrible.

I counted about twelve guys with guns that I could see; the rest probably had a gun or a knife or something. Climbing back up to the roof I stalked over to an old skylight close to where the creep in charge was standing and began to pour essence into my muscles, feeling them burn with the power I was feeding them.

Stepping lightly onto the glass, it started to splinter. I stomped. The glass gave way to me and I fell twenty five feet to the ground. Landing in front of the grease ball cape, knees bent, glass falling around me.

"Motherfucking asswi", was all he got out before I hit him with a ravaging blow to the head sending him sprawling back a few feet before hitting the ground hard.

Turning to the men and women behind me I spent a mote of essence to flare my anima, my caste mark burning and bleeding upon my brow and a pitch black nimbus of power burning around me. A few of them raised their weapons at me and fired.

My essence burned inside me as the bullets tore through my clothes and slammed into my skin. Leaping at the nearest junkie I landed with my knee in his chest and ripped the gun from his hand sending it spinning into the face of another.

Another came in close to hit me with a crowbar and I rushed him, carrying him into three others, knocking them all to the ground. Beating them unconscious, feeling more bullets flattening themselves against my skin, my hands growing bloody, I reveled in it. Standing, I turned my attention to the others leaping at them again. It wasn't long before everyone in the warehouse was either out cold, dead or had run away.

Groans of pain filled the air and I walked back over to the cape I had knocked out. He was starting to move and I kicked him in the ribs hard, sending him into a nearby wall before kneeling down next to him.

"Everything you had is gone now. The only thing you have to look forward to is oblivion. With no one to remember you, no burial, no nothing, this is where you end," I whispered into his ear. Placing one hand on his throat lightly I drove the other into his sternum, feeling it crack and the air rush out of his lungs. The hand on his throat clamped down like a vice, an inescapable iron grip. In a panic he grabbed at my arms, clawing at them as he died. His eyes bulging and face darkening.

I stood, and walked to anyone who was still alive and not running. My essence need filling and so I pulled down my mask, sharp teeth filling my mouth. I started to feed on whoever was left, their hot wet life and essence filling me.

* * *

I whistled while I worked, filling a couple bags with as much cash as I could find. Luckily there was running water here too; I had had quite a bit of blood to clean off myself and didn't want a lot of questions. There was a fair bit of money here, well over several thousand before I stopped bothering to count. Enough to keep me going for a while at least. Only thing was, I needed a place to stay. And that would be tricky at best.

 _Technically speaking, I don't exist. No name, no id even if I had a name… I'm certainly going to need to buy some things._

Walking out of the building, bags over my shoulder, I turned down an alleyway. Maybe I'd find a nice hotel.


	4. Chapter 4

A nice hotel was not in the cards tonight. The alleyway held only disappointment in that regard. Instead of a clear path to a warm bed, there was a small crowd of people surrounding a large truck with some kind of massive tinker gun mounted on the top. People with guns. More Merchants I figure. One of the ones who ran must have gotten them. Dropping my bags to the side I walk forward a couple steps.

"Are you Merchants too," I ask, stretching my arms over my head and cracking my knuckles, "because, well, it didn't turn out well for the last ones who pointed guns at me."

"Bitch we are and you're so fucking dead!" A girl shouts as she climbs up behind the weapon and it starts lighting up, a high pitched whine filling the air and energy crackling along the barrel.

Smiling, I spread my arms wide, "I really don't recommend you do this, but fine… Okay, you get one shot. You drop me, you win, obviously. You don't drop me and you're all mine. Or dead, whichever you want."

More and more energy builds up in the weird gun the drugged up psycho is standing behind. The men and women around the truck start backing up, getting behind the weapon, trying to stay safe. This is probably going to hurt. Should be fine though, and I'm smiling behind my mask.

"Hahah! You stupid cunt, I'm going to smear your crazy fucking ass all across this street! My new baby could blow a hole in a battleship! But sure, whatever you say!"

I just smile.

A lance of light erupts from the end of the gun. The alley, brighter than a day at noon, and I feel myself torn apart. The beam turns my chest and left arm into ash, ripping the side of my head off and punching a crater in the asphalt behind me. It lasts as long as it takes for the beam of energy to disappear before the blood and tissue and even my clothes reform, as my wounds are a lie and mean nothing.

The manic smile on the gunner girls' face dropped instantly.

Triumphant in my abilities I grin under my mask. "Still standing. Looks like I win then."

I clasp my hands behind my back and walk forward, their guns still trained on me, as though they thought it was a concern. A quick couple of hops and I'm on the hood then the roof of the truck, looking down at the tinker. Another trashy number, very short shorts, fishnets and a halter-top, covered by a leather jacket, all stained with grease and oil.

"So, I believe the deal was, if you can't kill me with your little gun, you work for me from now on?"

"Ski-Skidmark's our leader! H-he's the wh-one who," trashy-girl stuttered out, looking delightfully nervous.

Reaching out a hand, I took hers in mine, "Skidmark's dead, I left him in the warehouse back there with a caved in chest and crushed trachea. He was a stain upon this city, one that sadly had to be removed. However the rest of you, I feel, can be redeemed. Made into useful members of society."

I opened my soul and started feeding essence into my words, giving them more weight.

"Now, all of you have the capacity to improve, to be more than you are now. All of you can be better. And you will be, under my guidance and leadership. The Merchants are now mine. You are now mine. I will bring you power and respect. I will bring you safety and security. And you will serve me. A legion to be turned against this city for the better. Spread the word. Let everyone know."

I stood and stepped down into the back of the truck. Pointing at the bags of money, it's gathered up and put in the back of the truck with me.

Looking down at the girl behind the gun, I placed my hand on her shoulder before asking, "What's your name?"

"Squealer."

"Well Squealer, you'll be my second in command. You know these people best, so I'll trust your judgment on how to handle them. Now, let's go back to our base, wherever that might be."

-S-

It didn't take long for us to get back at what they were calling their base. It was another abandoned building, full of half built weapons and half disassembled vehicles. Obviously Squealers work. She jumped off the truck as it parked and walked over to a couch by table covered in tools and things I couldn't identify and flopped down. It looks like the building has two floors, this one being her workshop. Upstairs who knows?

After clearing off a spot on the couch I sat down next to her, looking her over. Needle marks in her arms, clothes were definitely worn and old. Skin was ashen and grimy, with random bruises. This was not a girl who took care of herself and she was definitely someone's punching bag.

"Squealer? How long would it take to get everyone working for you here? Every Merchant in Brockton Bay?"

"Um, a few hours I guess…"

"Do it, I've gotta go out for a bit. I'll be back soon. Before dawn at least…" I said, while digging around in a bag of cash. I pulled out a fat envelope and shoved it into a pocket while I walked outside.

The wind had died down, and the sky was clearing. It would be a nice day tomorrow. Not for me, but for others. Breaking into a run, my hair and coat streaming out from behind me, I took to the rooftops, leaping over alleys and streets. It felt good to run, freeing even.

-S-

My new speed and endurance made it a fairly short trip. I knew this area like the back of my hand. Passing places I had ridden my bike, gone walking. Played with friends when I had friends to play with. I had left the rooftops once I had to start jumping from house to house. I didn't want to wake anyone up. The streets were so quiet, not a single car passed me the rest of the way home.

My home, well, my old home. The lights were all off, makes sense as dad would be still be sleeping at this time of night. I walked up to the house keeping to the shadows and avoiding the streetlamps.

It was a mess inside. Of course it would be, he was a wreck when we lost mom, losing me too… Yeah, he wasn't doing well… Not at all. The kitchen table had more than a few empty bottles on it. Newspapers covered most other surfaces that didn't have takeout containers and used dishes cluttering them.

Moving to the backyard I leapt up to the roof to take a look in his window. It wasn't any better in there either. A bottle on his bedside table, half empty. Dirty clothes everywhere. His face looked sunken, hair thinner than it was… He was not good… I sat there a while, just watching him...

Jumping back down to the ground I slip around to the front door and push the envelope of money through the mail slot.

 _This will have to do for a while. I can't be too close. Not anymore. Taylor Hebert is a dead girl. And dead girls don't get to have a family. Dead girls who try get punished._

A cold wind starts to blow as I leave, walking down the street back towards the docks.

-S-

Feeling depressed I take a roundabout way back to the warehouse. Memories, like a dull throb in my head, push their way to the surface of my thoughts. My father's pain, it starts with the locker.

Pushed in there and nearly dying, wouldn't have had to become this if that hadn't happened… Wouldn't have had to give everything up…

 _So, how to balance the scales?_

 _Something to think on for sure. But who first… Which of the three?_

Picking up my pace, I was getting angrier and angrier. Hands curling into fists and jaw clenching. All the things they did.

 _My mother's flute… My. Mother's. Flute. Step one, I'm getting that back. Then I'll make them suffer._

Picking up the pace I started running towards the docks. I'd be there soon. See what people showed up, what the Merchants had to offer. I doubted it would be much. But it couldn't hurt to get rid of anyone who wouldn't fit in. Anyone who…

 _Huh… That's interesting…_

I stopped dead. I could feel it… An edge? A barrier? A shadowland… The building next to me held a shadowland, walking around the building I could feel it, something horrible happened here, and well, I could certainly use that. I'd have to come back here and check this out later. At least I'd have a way back downstairs if need be... And a way to bring things back up if I so desired.

I almost skipped back to the warehouse, while I thought about what to do with the Merchants.

-S-

Approaching the Merchants base, I could tell there were a lot of people there. I could also tell there were a number of fights happening. It was that loud. Music was blaring inside. Not just one type, a lot of types. The windows were all lit up.

A few guys were sitting outside the doors and stood as I approached them. If they weren't told who I was already, the look on my face told them to get out of my way. I strode into the building and flared my anima; a black bonfire surrounding me and my caste mark burning itself into my brow and bleeding at the edges.

All eyes were on me.

"Can the noise and pay attention people!" I bellowed; the music and shouting dying off.

Walking to the middle of the room I leapt up onto a table.

"I've been thinking for a while about this. About how to handle you all. First off, Skidmark is dead. He was crude, weak willed, short of sight. Useless. And I have to think to myself. Are the rest of you the same? Are the rest of you strung-out junkies, that I should give no more notice to than I would an insect ground under my boot? Do your vices control you?! Are you that fucking pathetic? When has a junkie done anything worth of notice? When have any of you done something that one could be proud of?!"

"Hey, fuck you bitch! Who do you think you", and that was all he said, before he hit the ground. I had quickly raised a hand and let my essence flow into him, wrapping around his heart and stopping it as he feebly grasped at his chest before falling.

"You will address me as The Daughter of Bitter Pain. I don't think I am anything. I know I am your better. And anyone not showing the proper deference will be dealt with in the same way," I stepped down from the table and walked towards the fresh body as the crowd parted around me. Getting down on one knee I placed my hand on its chest and pushed more essence into it.

"But, that doesn't mean that you're no longer useful to me. Bodies are always useful," I said as I stood. And then the body stood.

"You can serve me as you are or as he is now… Which will it be?"

Murmurs spread through the crowd.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It's funny what fear of the unknown will do to people. Some people can do things others can't. They have powers. They can fly or shoot lasers from their hands. Or can turn into metal or are very very smart. That's the world that we live in. And people without have been conditioned to be afraid of people with.

Now, I might not be a parahuman. But I can do things normal people can't. And I am a threat because of this. And the crowd in front of me knows this.

Parahumans, as odd as they are, are a part of this world and I'm apart from it. I am most certainly not natural. And the world and everything in it knows it. Every single person in front of me knows it. Blood drips down my face and my anima burns black around me.

"You can serve me as you are or as he is now… Which will it be?"

Murmurs spread through the crowd. The corpse followed me as I walked among them.

"Please remember, you only need to fear me if you are against me. And even then, if you wish, you may leave. However, any hand you raise against me… Well, I'll kill you. Or have you killed. Whatever I find easiest."

Unease fills the room. As I speak, blood starts to drip from the ceiling and run down the walls and a chill wind starts to pull at people's hair and clothing.

"So, if you want to stay, I'll be happy to find a place for you. If not, you have moments to leave," I said, raising my hand and point at the door.

A lot of them start heading for the door. Leaving as fast as they can; clothes, hair and faces stained with the blood that falls from the ceiling. Fighting past each other. Climbing over each other. The ones that stay, they are what I want. Troops that can act in this world for me.

I look out over them as I pull my mask down from my face and smile.

-S-

It had been a week since I had taken over a gang. Worst week of my… Okay, not by far my worst week but it had been a crappy week for sure. The first issue had been telling them that any drug use would result in punishment. A gang high out of their minds half the time was no use to me. So the last week had been a lot of threats that drug use would not be tolerated. Five people had died the first day. But only one yesterday, so that was progress. Ample use of charms to push the idea of getting clean into their heads had helped too.

Rule by fear. That was the lesson I was taught by my master. Fear will breed respect. Respect will bring power. But temper that with mercy when needed. Easy to say when you're an undead god-king…

Currently I was out and about. Squealer had been quick to ditch the habit and was doing well to keep the others under control when I was gone. I trusted her, and I think she was happy to be away from Skidmark. So she was willing to help me as much as she could.

Regardless, I had plans tonight. Step one of my revenge scheme such as it was. First, I wanted back what was mine. To do that, I needed to find out where it was…

Madison. Madison Clements. She was the weak one. Following Emma and Sophia's lead all the time. The cute one. The one I was following. It wasn't that hard, not really. Broke into Winslow, found her address, started following her. Had Squealer pick up some normal clothes for me as going out in my Underworld getup wasn't exactly low key. So I looked normal, more or less. Jeans and boots, a jacket, scarf and hat. Normal human clothes.

She had no idea I was watching her. She was having a great time, walking around downtown with a couple friends on this cool but comfortable night. Laughing about school, things they had done together. Mentioning the other two… From the sound of it, they had found a new whipping girl.

The café we sat in was quite nice, I had been here a couple times before… things had happened. A quaint little rustic place with lots of dark wood and copper fixtures. I watched them in a mirror that took up most of the wall next to me. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do.

They sit there for almost two hours talking and joking while I nursed a few cups of tea. Almost the most boring time I've ever spent. But then, they paid and got up. I placed a few bills on the table and waited until they were outside and on the street before I left.

I follow quick and quiet, always a short distance behind them, weaving through the crowd and pulling my hat lower. As I walk I feed essence into my body, a corpse might surge, making my body ache with power. I was really hoping I could get her away from her two friends without drawing too much attention to myself if any.

After a bit of walking the two girls she was with got on a bus leaving Madison waiting for a different one. She stood there, wrapped in a purple knit hat and dark blue jacket, playing on her phone. Cute as always. There weren't a lot of people around.

Walking quickly I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into an alley before feeding more essence into my charms and leaping between fire escapes up the buildings until I was on the roof, dragging her behind me.

I threw her against the side of a service door and crouched down next to her, gravel crunching under my feet and knees. She hadn't hit the wall too hard, not enough to break, just enough to scare. I could hear her breathing, fast and panicked.

"Hello Madison… Madison Clements… I was hoping we might talk for a minute or two," I said, my caste mark in full view and bleeding as I pull of my hat.

"Wh-wh-what do you wa-want ? I di-didn't do anything…" she stuttered back.

"No, of course you didn't, too pure and good to cause problems. But… the person who hired me, she says you and her friends took her flute… and I'm here to get it back. So tell me where it is and we can be done with this."

"Hebert? T-taylor sent you after us?"

"Well, not quite, no. She mentioned three girls had stolen it before she died. So I took it upon myself to get it back… Now, you admit to taking it Madison. Where is it?" I say, punctuating my question by slamming my fist into the wall beside her head.

She screams as she curls up into a ball, covering her face and head, and starts crying.

 _Pathetic…_

"Tell me Madison, tell me where the damn flute is! I want it back now!"

 _Oh…_

"Y-you want it back... But. Shit! F-fuck oh fuck oh fuck… You're Taylor?!"

"No. Taylor died in the locker. I'm tying up her loose ends." I say.

 _That was stupid_ , I think.

She looked up at me, eyes wide. It was dark up here, hardly any light. She can't see my face. She can't be sure.

She starts to grab at my arms, almost pleading. "No, you're her. You're Taylor, you look different but you're Taylor… We didn't kill you. Oh thank god we didn't kill you…"

"Heh, see that's where you're wrong. Taylor died for sure. Something brought her back, but she did die. Now, where is the flute Madison. I'm starting to lose my patience…" I say while grabbing her hand and squeezing. She screams and I feel something give, bones snapping and blood starts to drip.

"Fuck! Oh god! We threw it away, threw it off the boardwalk… oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck my hand…" she screams and I let her go, as she clutches her hand to her chest.

"Thank you Madison. You've been very helpful… One more thing though…" I brush her hair from her neck and rip her coat away before opening my mouth full of fangs and lowering it to her throat. The flow of blood and essence hardly starts to fill my mouth before I'm ripped from her and sent flying through the air into the building across the street, skidding almost off of the roof.

She floats, dressed in white and a gold tiara. Glory Girl. A light shining in the darkness that is this rooftop. Madison's savior. Or perceived savior. I probably wouldn't have killed her… Even if I wanted to.

"Look, I don't want to fight you. She'll be okay… I got what I wanted from her anyway."

She cracks her knuckles and glides over to me. "You think you can just attack people? No, I think I'll be taking you in."

"I got what I want; I'm not going to fight you." I turn and jump down from the roof, hit the ground and start running.

Not ten feet down the alley Glory Girl hits me in the back and sends me tumbling into and partially through an old wall. My essence protects me and I pull myself free, shattered brick and mortar falling around me.

"You're not gonna let me go… Please, I don't want to fight with you Glory Girl…"

"Yeah, I bet you don't," she says grinning,

"…fuck."

I let my jacket and scarf fall to the ground and move into a fighting stance. I may not have the rest of my outfit but I wear my bracers on my arms. I throw a few quick punches and kicks, limbering up and with Madison there it's easy to dredge up the pain that fuels the form of the dark messiah. The Scripture of the One-Handed Maiden engraved on my bracers lights up and floats around me for a moment. My caste mark bleeds and my anima flairs.

She flies at me, cape and skirt streaming behind her. Time almost slows as she pulls back a fist… She throws her punch and I catch it just in time, slipping past her, moving out of her way and pulling her past me before slamming my fist into the side of her head twice driving her into the pile of rubble she made with me, activating my ravening mouth technique and pulling essence from her with each blow. She can't use it so I will.

Pushing herself out of the bricks she backhands me and I hit another wall. The only things saving me again are my charms. She hit much harder this time. I feel the back of my skull cave in and my organs pulp against the wall before my body turns pristine again and I drop to the ground leaving a bloody streak against the bricks. She sees this.

"So you can regenerate? Damn, nice little trick you have there."

"Yeah, and the way you fight I'm lucky… Surprised you haven't killed someone yet…"

My anima erupts into a bonfire of shadows around me illuminating the area.

 _This can't go on for much longer. I'm burning too much essence. I need to get out of here and let my anima fade…_

I look around, alley to my right and left, outside the alley a street, in the street, manhole. Sewer! Thank the Neverborn if I can escape down there.

I break to my right, running towards the manhole, hoping I'm quick enough to get in there and escape. I'm not. I feel her hand close around my arm like a vice and my feet lift of the ground as she throws me back into the alley. I roll back onto my feet and rush her, putting everything I can into a right hook. My essence does most of the work but even that seems to stagger her for a moment as she falls back into a wall. Superman logic; I guess magic trumps invulnerability.

I shove past her and break for the street again. Hooking my fingers into the manhole cover and ripping it out of place I throw it back at Glory Girl and drop down into the darkness, my anima illuminating everything. I run as fast as I can down any tunnel that's big enough to hold me.

There's a deafening crack from behind me and I'm grabbed again before we explode out of the sewers and shoot up into the night air.

"Yeah, you're not getting away that easy," Glory Girl says to me, hauling me into the sky by the arm.

I pull and slam my fist into her gut over and over, my essence barely overcoming her invulnerability. But it does. Little by little, a death of one thousand cuts so to speak. Each blow taking its toll. And she's not used to this I can tell. The expression on her face showing her rage at anyone daring to try to hurt her. She decides to throw me. From way up here. I fall through the air, the moon full above me, and hit the ground again leaving a small crater of shattered sidewalk. My power protects me as always and I stand again.

I've spent far too much essence…

Standing, I see people watching me, watching us. They're at a distance, but people love to watch a fight. A cape fight all the more. My anima erupts iconic.

A figure pulls itself out of my anima, growing and towering over me. Bound in chains and leather straps, an obsidian figure dark as midnight, wounded and tortured, mimicking my every motion. The screaming starts, building like a wave, echoing through the streets. People running, dropping to their knees and begging for their lives. Some hurting themselves.

Glory Girl comes down from the sky, stopping at the other end of the street.

She storms at me, fist drawing back.

She stops like she hit a wall. Staring at me, eyes getting wider.

I raise my hand and a flash of essence hits her, blood starts to leak from her nose and mouth, her eyes and ears...

She runs, terrified.

I need to get out of here before reinforcements show up.


	6. Chapter 6

_Should've kept a firmer hold on my essence. Shouldn't have spent so damn much…_ I think, berating myself as I jump back into the hole Glory Girl made in the street and run again.

 _I have to get down, as far down as I can to hide my anima. Streets and sewers should be able to block it… find a place to rest until it burns out._

Up to my waist in sewer water some places, freezing cold, I move further and deeper. As unpleasant as this is, getting caught by a bunch of heroes would be so much worse. At least I can see. Rats swarm past me, avoiding my unnatural aura. The water is disgusting, but it doesn't really matter. Not like I can get sick.

 _Fuck…_

I turn and punch the wall, almost cracking the concrete.

 _Didn't want to run. Wanted to tear her damn head off, both of them… Didn't want to be near that flying bitch though and why is that? And where does killing her there and then get me? Kill a cape, well; they'll all be after me. All of damn New Wave. Everyone else too. Wasn't like our fight was low key. Low key is tricky tricky right now..._

 _ **Go back… tear them apart…tear them all DOWN...**_ The whispers echo through my head.

"Now is not the time for this!" I scream, planting my other fist into the wall.

"Subtlety is needed now… A delicate hand instead of an iron fist," I mutter, trudging back down the tunnels.

-S-

A long walk, heading towards the bay helps me clear my head, though the whispers are still there urging me towards violent and bloody murder. Frankly I don't mind. But there is such a balance in the world. And only so much is put up with here. Violent and bloody murderers, for example, are usually come down on pretty hard.

I'd need a much bigger power base to start getting anything done here. And frankly mortals wouldn't be the most useful. That meant only one thing. Recruiting.

 _No… Not recruiting. Conscription._

By now my anima had faded. My caste mark was still there but it did not bleed and there was no banner glowing around me. I could get home now at least without any undue attention.

-S-

I had pulled myself from the sewer soaking wet and stinking. Walked back to the old Merchants warehouse. Squealer had only stared at me as I came in, the others parting around me. Since the drugs had stopped we had been branching into protection and robbery. At least to keep them all occupied. The ones that were there sat at tables and were sorting through goods and counting cash.

Heading upstairs I quickly shower and change. I feel better in my proper clothes, but my essence is still lacking and I need to refill it. Lucky for me I have a warehouse full of meat batteries. Going back downstairs I sit next to Squealer, watching some inane show on a television while designing something ridiculous on a computer.

"Squealer, I need you to get everyone here by tomorrow night, everyone who works for you. Get them here. I've got a plan and it will require everyone."

"Alright boss, what's up? And what the fuck happened out there tonight?"

"Found who I wanted, found out what they did with… my… With what I was looking for. Glory Girl showed up. We fought. Sort of. Something about her, I couldn't get up the will to fight."

Squealer kept typing and drawing on her computer tablet, but she was thinking about what I had said. "Yeah, she's got some kind of mind-fuck power doesn't she? Makes people piss themselves over her or something?"

"Seriously?!"I say, running my hands through my hair.

"That's what they say boss."

"Something I'll have to remember for later… Now though, I need essence. I need to feed," raising my voice I shouted to whoever was in the building, "Any volunteers?"

A number of men and women started walking over, some reluctantly, some oddly enthusiastic.

My fangs grew.

-S-

Rested, full and recharged, I went upstairs to the room I was using. I didn't think I'd be using it for very long. Tomorrow, I was taking everyone into the Underworld. So much to do there. Weapons to build, armies to raise. I was going about this all wrong. I was acting like a mortal. Like some rogue villain knocking over banks and taking petty revenge.

First things first, a legion of walking dead. If the flute was in the bay, I would have the bay searched. Inch by inch if needed. And then once I had that, I would have the trio. And once I had them, I would make this city mine. Well not mine. His.

Thoughts of the complete and utter distruction of Brockton Bay in my mind, I fell asleep.

-S-

I woke up at the crack of dusk. Noise came from below, hundreds of voices. Squealer's high-pitched voice telling them all to shut up. I smiled at that.

Heading downstairs, pulling on my coat I let my castmark burn through.

"Okay everyone, listen up! We're heading out now, so follow me!"I bellowed, pulling all eyes to me.

Squealer gunned the engine of her jeep and I jumped in the back, the doors to the warehouse were thrown open and she pulled out, driving slow enough that anyone walking wouldn't be left behind. It didn't take long to reach that diplapidated building that held our destination. I lept off the jeep and landed in front of the large double doors.

Throwing the doors open, I turned and grinned,"Everyone ready now?"

"Yeah boss,but what is this?" Squealer asked, uneasienss creeping into her voice.

"You'll see, only good things I promise," I entered the building and my anima brushed against the edges of the shadowland. I walked to the other side of the gutted floor, the crunch of broken glass and rustle of old papers and leaves underfoot.

Another set of doors stood in front of me. I turned to make sure everyone was inside.

They were.

I pushed open the doors and walked.

The air was still and smelled faintly of ash and salt. Clouds rolled over the dark skies, obsucring dead stars and a moon that seemed too large. The buildings didn't match, some from hundreds of years ago, some modern, lit by green and blue lanterns, sodium bulbs and other less mundane light sorces. The streets though, no longer cracked ashpalt sprouting weeds. The roads were well maintained. People filled the streets, not one of them living.

"B-boss, where are we?" Squealer stuttered.

"The Underworld, Squealer dear, the Underworld. You're safe though, don't worry."

With that I flared my anima, lighting the area like a bonfire.

"Everyone, stay close. We don't want anyone to get lost, now do we?" I shouted.

Various ex-Merchants began muttering to themselves, unease working its insidious way through the group. The dead watching us started making their way off the streets. Though they kept watching us, it was from windows and doorways.

Before long, maybe twenty minutes, trucks could be heard winding their way towards us. Loud engines hauling a large load. Five of them as they came into view, each a large military transport. They pulled up, surrounding us, soldiers wearing white body armor and wielding rifles exiting the trucks.

One, wearing slightly more elaborate armor approaches and salutes. I nod politely and walk over to him.

"Captain, thank you for being so prompt," I murmur, "These people are to be taken in for processing."

"Yes my lord, right away," He snaps to attention.

Almost shouting over the mortal rabble talking amongst themselves, my essence flares with my voice, "Alright people, everyone on the trucks!"

"What do you mean? Where are we going?!" someone shouts, Carl, I think his name is.

 _Alright, this is taking far too long… Heavy hands now…_

I run my hands through my hair; blood is running down my face again and my nimbus of essence is burning black around me.

"…Captain, get these mortals on the trucks now please," I command, gesturing to everyone besides Squealer.

Placing a hand on Squealer's shoulder, I watch as the soldiers move in. Rifles raised, they start ordering my former gang into the various trucks. They of course protest, a handful of them trying to fight back, being either struck with a heavy black mace or the butt of a gun.

Their fear is almost palpable, shouts of protest and useless struggling. It almost brings me a feeling of joy, the sight of these mortals being stepped on, soon to be ground into the dirt.

Squealer looks up at me, voice small and cracking, "is this going to ha-happen to me?"

"On no, not even slightly, you're a light shining in darkness, so to speak… You're going to be given what I hear every Tinker wants. Resources and no limits on what you can build."

She just looked at me, stunned. Or scared. I couldn't really be bothered to figure out which.

-S-

We left the troops to round up the rest of my former gang. I almost had to drag her by the hand to get her back to her jeep. A quick click of the fingers and a whistle brought one of the soldiers running to us. Squealer and I got in the back and the soldier, a young looking man with a crewcut, took the wheel.

"Take us to the Citadel, quick as you can."

"Yes Ma'am!"

I let my anima light the night, acting as a warning to anyone on the roads. We travel through the silent streets. Anyone in the way is not there for long. These streets are not the streets of Brockton Bay, nothing is the same. The jeep passes buildings from the past hundred years, and some that people from our time have never seen.

Turning, it comes into view. The Citadel. It is a windowless tower of iron and basalt thirty stories tall. My home away from life. Each of its five sides has an attached hall. Necromancy labs, weapons design, armoury, shipyard and temple. It wasn't mine, not really. It belonged, like everything in this Bay of Shadows and Despair, to my… Principle… with his One Wing Broken and One Wing Skyward.

"What is this place?" Squealer asks almost standing in her seat trying to get a better view.

"I told you, my Citadel. This is where you'll work. Build something huge and destructive. Something to rip down the pillars of creation."

Her eyes grow at this. Maybe in horror, maybe just imagining all the things her power could make.

It doesn't matter.

The wall surrounding the compound is twenty feet high, granite walls reinforced with steel. I stand and they of course see my anima, know who I am. The only Knight in town. The gates in front open and we are let in.

"Squealer… Do you have a name? A real, human, mortal name? Like a person would have?" I ask, looking down at this woman? Girl? Who I have taken.

"Um, Sherrel… It's Sherrel."

I place a hand gently on her shoulder. "Well then, welcome to your new home Sherrel."

The gates close behind us.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes: Anyone who follows this at all, sorry for the infrequent updates, between work and homelife I've had very little chance to write. I'm hoping to be able to change this and chapters to become longer or at least more frequent.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Danny Answers His Door

-S-

There was a knock at the door.

Danny put the phone back in its cradle and stood up. Not completely steady on his feet but steady enough, he walked over to the door and looked through the glass. He couldn't understand why, but on the other side of the glass was a woman in armored and close fitting fatigues with an American flag wrapped around the bottom of her face. Miss Militia.

Opening the door a crack, Danny looked out, "Can I help you?"

"Maybe. You're Danny Hebert? Taylor Hebert is your daughter, correct?"

"Yes! But why are you… Oh god did you find her? Did something happen to her?!" Danny said, throwing open the door.

Miss Militia let out a short sigh, "Mr. Hebert, we should talk inside…"

Standing aside, Danny let her walk in. He cleared off a seat on the couch and stood by the chair. She sat down; back straight, her eyes on his.

"Your daughter was… encountered by a member of New Wave. Glory Girl… Mr. Hebert. Danny? Did you know you daughter is a parahuman?"

Danny's eyes widened, jaw slack, "a parahuman? Wha –no! How… are you sure?"

"Yes, we're very sure about this. She was seen using a number of powers. Some of which she had used to assault a former classmate… From the reports she was strong, fast and dangerous."

Miss Militia stood, obviously trying to choose her words carefully, "She hurt the girl, and when Glory Girl intervened, hurt her as well. Quite badly actually. She also did something to a number of people in the area. Feelings of intense fear, so bad some people hurt themselves… self-mutilation."

"Jesus… Taylor did this!? It's a mistake, it's gotta be. She's a good girl, never been violent!"

"It's not a mistake, Mr. Hebert, I'm sorry. The things she did... She's definitely a parahuman. Danny? Has she been in contact with you?"

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I haven't seen my daughter since she disappeared… The only thing that happened… A few days ago, an envelope of money was pushed through my mail slot. I… I think it was Taylor. She's the only one who would do something like that. Though, where she would have gotten the money, I have no idea…"

Standing up, Danny walked around the living room. Taking his glasses off, he ran a hand over his eyes and through his thinning hair.

"What's going to happen to her?" He sighed.

"I really can't say. Maybe she'll turn herself in. She could be placed on probation, serve with the Wards. It's happened before. God forbid, maybe things go bad and she's killed or sent to the Birdcage. That's happened too."

Miss Militia stood.

"Look, Danny. I know this is hard to take in, but… We… I'll do everything I can to try to take her in without hurting her. If she tries to contact you, please let us know," she asked, fishing a card out of her pocket and handing it to him.

He looked down at the card in his hand, a plain white thing with a phone number.

"Yeah, yeah okay."

Danny walked her to the door, watched her walk down the path, get in her van and drive off. He stood there a while, the cold air blowing. The grey clouds rolling across the sky were covering the sun, blocking out any glimpse of blue that the day had started with.

"Come home safe sweetheart…" he muttered to himself.

Danny closed the door.

Local News

Three Weeks Later

-S-

He placed his morning paper on the table, next to his plate of toast and coffee cup. A lot had been going on in the area, since the event downtown. None of it good.

Harper Sullivan was 63 years old. He had seen a lot. Seen his wife pass. His children leave this dying city. Lived through the birth of the capes, even seen Scion once. He thought. Maybe not.

That day downtown. A cape fight. That's what the news said. Wasn't some great thing. There had been worse before.

But what had happened after. What people did to themselves after they saw her. That girl. It didn't feel like powers, or anything like that. It felt wrong. Like a hole in the world. Like a toothache in reality.

And now, other odd things. Wrong things.

Greendale, a town two hours north of the Bay. It was in the paper today. Every single person, every animal bigger than a cat. Gone. The town was cleaned out completely. One might have likened it to one of those movies where everyone just up and vanishes in the middle of their day. But that wasn't what had happened. Doors had been broken in. Windows shattered. Blood was everywhere. It looked like a warzone they had said. But there were no bodies. Not a single person left. Not a body to be found.

Some people had said it was the Slaughterhouse 9. Others had said they were had been seen on the west coast not long ago and it couldn't be them. Harper didn't know. Honestly he didn't care who did it. They were monsters either way. One the same as the other really.

He walked out of the kitchen, carrying his coffee cup. A click of a button and the television was on, more news. He sat in his chair, like he did every day. Catching up on events. A report on Greendale was a few minutes in. Something new had been found, something they had seen when doing a flyover in a helicopter. An image was painted in blood down the middle of Main St. A pair of wings, one straight and pointing up and one broken and pointing down as it was shown on the screen.

One wing broken and one wing skyward.

Harper looked out the window at a sky that hadn't shown sun for quite a while now and a chill moved through him.

TIME

-S-

It hadn't taken very long for her to recover, her sister being who she was. Doing what she did. But it wasn't the pain, the wounds she had suffered. It was the fact that Victoria Dallon hadn't been hurt really by anything in so long. It was almost shocking, a violation to her body.

It took a couple days for Amy to fix what had been done. Whatever that Hebert girl had done to her, it was like it killed her flesh. And she didn't even need to touch her. Her forcefield had done nothing. She locked eyes with her and… Her body, it was agony. Her flesh started dying. Tissue necrosis Amy called it. All she knew was the skin and muscle on her right arm had blackened and started rotting off. Some of her organs hard started dying.

Amy had saved her. She had crash landed at home, more or less passed out in flight and landed in the front yard. That was the last thing she clearly remembered. Didn't wake up for two days after that…

Her mom had pulled her out of the crater she had made and carried her into the house screaming for Amy, apparently. Mark had almost lost it at the sight of her, Amy had said. Wanted to go out and hunt down whoever had done that to his little girl.

Sighing, Vicky got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. She still didn't feel right. Amy said she was better. All damage repaired, but she felt wrong inside. Looking in the mirror, she had dark circles under her eyes, which were bloodshot. Her hair looked like straw almost. Sleep hadn't come easy or lasted long since that night. Amy said it was probably stress. Her power hadn't seen anything different about her.

She got in the shower and turned the water as hot as she could take it. Letting it cascade over her, waking her up.

The worst part of all this she thought was nothing she had done to that… 'girl' had really lasted. It was so fucking rare that she couldn't hurt someone, couldn't put someone down. That girl was strong for sure, but anything Vicky had done to her had seemed to just melt away, she just went back to pristine undamaged flesh. Maybe a power like Alabaster from the E88.

But.

It wasn't normal. It wasn't like a real person. There was a wrongness about her, an otherness. The thing she did, almost like her aura, but so much worse. It wasn't fear that she had felt when that image had appeared around her. It was mortal fucking dread. Whatever that was didn't belong in the world. Should not have existed.

Turning the water off and stepping out of the shower, she looked at her body. The skin on her arm was pale, felt new. The couple moles she had were gone, that small scar on her elbow from when she fell down the stairs when she was eight, gone too.

Wrapping a towel around herself she went back to her room and got dressed. She was going to school today. She had to.

She had to get out of the house and be normal. Normal for her at least.

RECOVERY

-S-

She refused to go to school. Refused to leave the house really. Refused to talk on the phone and refused to see her friends. Madison Clements refused anything except the presence of her parents and even that was only because they lived there.

Her hand was still in a cast, but the stiches had come out of her neck quite a while ago. She'd have a scar, but…

She wanted to go to the police. She really did. She wanted to tell them every horrible thing they had done, wanted to tell them it was their fault that Taylor was the way she was. The police were watching her. She had already attacked her once. They thought she might do so again. Emma and Sophia were being watched too. Madison really didn't think it mattered at this point.

In her heart, deep inside, she thought that if Taylor whatever she was now, wanted to get her, she would. Madison had looked in her eyes and seen nothing human there. Whatever Taylor was before. Weak, afraid, prey as Sophia had said, she really wasn't that anymore. Madison didn't even think she was human anymore. Humans don't try to eat you.

Madison's hand went to her neck again. She'd have a scar, but… Did that matter anymore? The only thing Madison thought that mattered was not dying.

She looked around her room. She always had a light on now. At least one. It was near midnight and her room was so bright. Stuffed animals on her bed, posters of bands on the wall. So cute. That was her thing right? Cute… She didn't feel cute anymore. Cute didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was never seeing Hebert again. Never being near that thing again. She was so happy that she hadn't killed someone at first… Hadn't killed a girl for the only reason that her friends thought it would be funny. Then…

She looked at her hand. The doctors said she'd be lucky to regain partial use of it.

It was near midnight.

All the heat left the room.

Her breath came out in puffs of white.

Downstairs she heard glass break.

She slid off her bed, slippers placed on her feet. Her robe wrapped around her. She moved to the door, slowly, listening for other noises in the night. There it was, rustling downstairs.

Slipping out of her room, into the hall. The dark hall, darker than it should have been. The only light coming from the stairs. One foot in front of the other, Madison made her way downstairs, hand sliding over the wall, looking around the corner as the stairs entered the living room.

There, on the ground, lain out side by side. Her parents.

The sound of her own breath filled her ears, she couldn't hear anything else. Her feet carried her to them, she couldn't blink, couldn't look away. As cold as the air was, she couldn't see their breath. She didn't see their chests rise.

Figures, armored in black, clothed in black, faces covered in black, surrounded her. She hardly noticed. She looked at her parents.

She didn't know, didn't understand what was happening. Everything went dark around her, rough cloth pulled over her face. A blow to the back of the head.

She stopped knowing anything for a while.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

-S-

Light flickered through the darkened room, casting shadows of the various tools that hung from the vaulted ceiling. There was only one colour in the room and that colour was black. Tools and walls, the forges and ceilings. Soot covered the floor. All black, aside from the fires. Those glowed blue.

The clang of metal on metal echoed through the room. A figure clad in leather and soulsteel standing over the anvil, massive hammer in hand, heavy tongs holding her work in place. She shaped the red-hot, screaming metal, coaxing the form of a helmet from it.

She looked over its shape carefully, and then began etching designs into the glowing metal, scarred and skeletal face only inches from her work. After only minutes, she put down her tools and picking up the helmet thrust it into a vat of blood. Steam poured from the vessel and the metal gave one last horrid shriek of agony.

Satisfied with her work, she placed the bloody and still warm helmet over her head and left the room, hammer resting on her shoulder. The bright light in the hall illuminating her exquisitely curved form, covered in leather and soulsteel plates, every inch of skin covered. As she walked she examined her weapon and tool. The Hammer of The Shadow Forge. Heavy and black, formed of soulsteel, a skull decorating each side of the head, with scripture etched strips of woven white leather covering the long haft.

She walked to the main hanger and production floor. Wraith of Steel and Smoke had much work to do.

-S-

Much more time had passed than I had wanted. The boss was not happy with my performance and well… Punishment had been due. And after punishment always came training. Bitter painful work that it was. But after all pain birthed me and I can only be improved by it.

The voices in my head were not happy either, and they were less easy to appease. The whispers of the Neverborn had pulled me down to their tombs. Cysts of shadow and hate and death floating in the void. Their dead and dreaming forms within had… Told me what they thought of me, more or less. It had not been pleasant and taken more than a few days to recover from.

However, by their grace and mercy they had sent me back. And the boss had taught me many new things. Fun things. I was becoming a walking corpse, in nature though not in appearance. If I chose, I didn't need sleep, food or even air. And that would be so very useful.

I stood on the boardwalk. One in the morning. Not a man or woman in sight. Except those that worked for me. And they were there in numbers. Almost three hundred walking corpses and two hundred spirits, under my command. And command them I did.

"Everyone, into the water. No one comes out until you have my flute," I shouted. And my small army started walking into the shallow water. Rakes, shovels and other implements of destruction in their hands. They begin to work. Churning silt up into the water. Hopefully this won't take too long.

Tengerstron was kind enough to set up a small table and chair for me. A pot of tea and a bowl of fruit. Something to snack on while my subordinates worked. I might not need to eat, but who doesn't like food?

"Tengerstron, I think we should assign a number of investigators to the various gangs. I'd like to find out what they're all up to, strengths and weaknesses, that sort of thing. Could you please arrange that for me," I said, after taking a sip of tea. A lovely cup of lapsang souchong.

Wrapping a towel around the teapot, Tengerstron moved to my side, "Of course Ma'am, that won't be any trouble at all."

"Excellent Tengerstron, you're indispensable as always," I said looking up at him.

His pale blond hair fell over the right side of the black jade mask he wore, his grey suit expertly cut and easily the cleanest thing around. He called a runner over with a click of his fingers and gave him the order. The man took off into the night, heading back towards the nearest shadowland. Luckily, gang violence had been picking up, and more of these had been opening. Unfortunately, these also required more monitoring.

Crossing my legs out in front of me I sighed, "I really hope this doesn't take too long. It's not like there's that much beach to go over."

"You never did say what you planned to do with the item once you find it Ma'am, though it's not any of my business," Tengerstron queried.

"I'd like that to be a surprise…"

"Of course Ma'am."

We sat in silence for the next few hours. I watched the works tear up the beach as the tide came in. Morning wouldn't be very long and I was getting impatient. If we didn't find it soon I'd have to wait until tomorrow to keep looking. And that wasn't something I really wanted to do.

"Ma'am, I believe we might have some guests…"

Looking up from my tea, I glanced down the boardwalk. Miss Militia I know already, the one in Silver and Gunmetal power armor I'm pretty sure is Gallant. A woman in a blue, circuit board patterned costume behind them, Battery. The three of them are walking towards us.

"Taylor Hebert, you are under arrest. Please tell your man to stand down and come with us quietly," Miss Militia shouts, her green energy forming some sort of small machine gun.

I ignore them to focus on pushing my essence into my flesh, adding the strength of the walking dead to my own and awaking the ravening maw of my essence should I have to fight them, as Tengerstron turns and approaches them.

"Excuse me; is there anything I can assist you with? My Lady is quite busy overseeing some business as you can see."

The three of them, stop short at this. Surprised, I would assume, at Tengerstron's response.

"Who are you?" I hear Battery ask.

Sighing, I stand up and respond. "It's okay Tengerstron; please keep an eye on the workforce if you please."

Standing, I let my coat fall onto the seat of my chair before addressing the heroes before me, "I have no need to fight you, and you have no real need to fight me. Better that we part ways here and you let me go about my business than any gets hurt. I promise you any hostility will be met in kind. And my Principal may have need for you in the future… so go."

Battery's circuit board pattern begins to glow and she stands there watching me. Gallant visibly tenses.

Miss Militia's finger slips over the trigger of her weapon as she addresses me, "look, we have orders to bring you in under changes of assault with a parahuman power. We aren't leaving unless it's with you in handcuffs."

She looks over at Gallant who quickly raises his hands, firing a concussive blast of sickly blue energy at me. Momentarily blinded, I feel my boots scrape against the ground as I'm pushed back, table and chair knocked to the side. My anima flashes with outrage as a feeling of panic washes over me. The Neverborn have nothing but scorn for such weak attempts at fear. My power rejects his attack and Gallant falls to the ground screaming as shadows flow up and around him, as his mind glimpses their dead dreaming glory.

Bullets rake my flesh and tear at my clothes and I look to see Miss Militia, gun raised and firing. My cast mark is already burned across my brow and starting to bleed as I will more essence into my charms. My flesh turns enduring as a mausoleum and the bullets do nothing.

"I gave you a chance to walk away…" I laugh, "You should have taken it, I'm not allowed to show mercy very often... Madison learned that."

An explosion of motion to my right and Battery is on me, a flurry of strikes I can barely stand against. Strength and speed are her strongest weapons and she has me back on my heels with them. I need to keep her from moving and duck under one of her blows to lunge at her, wrapping her in my inescapable iron grip. A moments struggle and I have her back to my front, arm locked against her throat, choking the life from her. Militia's gun is on me in a second as I shield myself with her teammate.

Opening my mouth to expose my newly grown maw of fangs, I lower them to her neck and bite down, drinking deeply and regaining some of my essence from her as her hot salty life fills my mouth and runs down my throat. Battery struggles harder but my essence strengthened grasp holds her tight, until I decide I've had enough.

The side of my head is blown away as Militia's renown with a gun is shown. The spray of blood and bone returning to its proper place as my wounds tell their lie.

Releasing Battery from my grasp I slam my palm into the small of her back before she drops, the power of a lashing tempest sending her hurtling into Gallant. The two of them crashing through a storefront window and into the shelves inside. Neither of them gets back up.

Turning my attention back to Miss Militia as more of her bullets slam into me, I force more essence into my hands, bones blossoming from each turning them into fists of bone knives. Entering the form of the Dark Messiah, my anima burns like a bonfire around me before erupting into its full iconic glory, the bound messiah growing around me, obsidian chains hanging from shadow flesh.

Miss Militia surprises and pleases me as she steels herself instead of falling to the ground and weeping like a child or mutilating herself.

Laughing I walk towards her, "Oh you brave fucking fool… You really should have run."

Off to the side one of the rank and file burst out of the water, shouting. A length of metal in his hand.

"Yes! Good job! Bring it here, now!" I cry. I can't wait to hold that battered, sand filled piece of steel and silver in my hands again.

The ghostly form was up out of the water and over the railing before I can blink. He falls to his knees in front of me, holding out the flute.

I take it, talons running over the cracks and dents, the grime and mud, brushing bits of seaweed and filth from its surface. Some of its keys were missing and it obviously wouldn't play, ruined as it was. Lucky for me, I have access to the underworlds best craftsmen.

"Tengerstron, would you please take this for me, get it fixed up and ready to play?" I asked, passing him the ruined instrument.

He took it, wrapping it in a cloth and heading towards the nearest Shadowland, "of course Ma'am, it should be ready in a few days."

"…what? What are they…?" Militia asks breath catching in her throat, finally noticing the figures down below as they left the water and began walking back up to the boardwalk.

Grinning I look back to her, "we all know what they are. Walking dead, zombies, animated corpses. Ghosts and such. The armies of the underworld… You should give up, run and hide so we can't find you. Because I've been tasked with taking this city. The first city to fall to the Abyssals, the Deathlords, the Neverborn; blessed are they who are dead and dreaming."

"You think I'm a cape and I'm so much more, transcended mortality, transcended morality, transcended humanity. I am the first champion of death in this new age. The underworld has been locked away for so very long and now it's all coming back. Darkness will spread across the land and I and the others will herald it. I'm not a cape, not even close. What you are to humans I am to you. Exalted!"

"Taylor…" she says before I cut her off again.

"Taylor Hebert is dead, you fucking fool!" I shout, "Beaten and torn down. Torn apart bit by bit by Madison Clements, Sophia Hess, and Emma fucking Barnes… Everyone else at that hole of a school…Taylor died in the locker at Winslow, they shoved her in with the trash, brain pierced and bleeding out. She died and was reborn. A Daughter of Bitter Pain. Address me as that, if you please. It's what I am."

"If you're here to kill the world then why did you save that girl in the alley that night I met you!?" Militia shouted back.

It stunned me for a moment. I almost had forgotten it…

"If he was just going to kill her, I would have let him. But rape? That's inexcusable…"

"You have a strange sense of morality…" She spat back at me.

Almost bursting out laughing at that, I choked it back, "heh, morality is fluid, what one group of people hold to be right, is often wrong for others. Besides, to be brought into the embrace of death, well that's a different thing all together. Rape serves no purpose. But every death… brings us one step closer to the sweet release of the Neverborn… I wonder how many people you have sent to the embrace of the underworld?"

I glance over to the storefront window and my essence reaches out, animating the flesh inside. After a moment the screams of Gallant start to echo in the empty shop, then stop all too suddenly. My walkers gather behind me, their rotting stench mingling with the salt sea air. The body of Battery, broken and bleeding climbs haltingly out of the shattered storefront. Moments later Gallant's body follows hers, his throat and lower face eaten away.

"And death Miss Militia is all around us. You have to know this. Your power makes weapons. You have to have killed someone. At some point in your life, you sent someone straight to us… Those two", I shout pointing at Battery and Gallant, "you gave them to us. Because you couldn't walk away."

Her weapon points at me, bullets flying ripping at my clothes and flattening against my skin. Not nearly enough to hurt me. I dash towards her, burying my fist in her gut and knocking the wind out of her. Grab her forearms in each sharp serrated hand and twist, feeling the bones snap and flesh rend under my grasp. An over hand blow to her shoulders sends her to the ground, gasping with pain, useless arms hanging by her sides.

"Should have walked away…" I say with pity, as I drive my boot into the side of her head, kicking her to the ground.

I turn away and address the assembled dead. Their eyes, those that have them, upon me. Waiting for their orders.

"Everyone back to the Underworld. Leave the warrior here, her people will be along soon enough. She can tell them what happened. Tell them what's coming," I look back to Gallant and Battery, "you two however, stay here. Stand watch over her. No eating though."

Entering the crowd of dead, we walk to one of the growing number of shadowlands in this city. Time to head home for a bit. I could already hear the sirens in the distance.

-S-

The cacophony of metal ringing against metal, shouts of foremen directing workers and the screams of those unlucky enough to be used as materials filled the production hanger. The heat from the many forges was almost unbearable, but so much mundane metal and soulsteel was needed for this project.

Wraith of Steel and Smoke had not taken long to figure out what her first great work would be. She had found many plans and designs from long past and with what she knew she could only improve upon them. From her balcony overlooking the hanger, she could see her plans coming together. Unyielding Termination of Light would be her first and finest work as a Deathknight. She only hoped her master would approve.

She was shaken from her thoughts by the sound of heavy boots walking up the stairs to her balcony workshop. Torn clothes and hands streaked in blood, Daughter of Bitter Pain flopped down in a chair and put her feet up on a table.

"Can we talk? I need something from you…" she said.

Wraith of Steel and Smoke sighed and shook her head. It was going to be a long day.


End file.
